Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Should Retirees Declare Bankruptcy?
Retirement is supposed to be a time when you can walk away from the rat race and stop worrying about money. Federal programs such as Social Security and Medicare are designed to protect seniors from poverty. In practice, though, the law gives companies a lot of leeway to impose heavy financial burdens on consumers;… Read More »
4 Strategies for Tackling Medical Debt
Medical debt is a huge financial burden, even for people with health insurance. A single visit to the doctor’s office can leave you with bills that it takes years to pay off. The No Surprises Act has reduced the cost of emergency healthcare, but there are plenty of loopholes about which services qualify as… Read More »
What Are Credit Builder Loans?
People say that, if you owe zero debts and you have ten dollars in your pocket, you are rich. This is a motivating thought if you are trying to pay off your debts. Perhaps you are rich if you have ten dollars in your pocket and you own a house unencumbered by a mortgage… Read More »
Is Filing for Bankruptcy Worth the Harm to Your Credit Score?
If filing for bankruptcy is so easy, why don’t more people do it? A lot of people do file for bankruptcy, some of them more than once, but you should not take the decision to go to bankruptcy court lightly. You can’t just buy anything you want on credit without giving any thought as… Read More »
Peer-to-Peer Lending
Interpersonal networks are an excellent source of emotional support and can also contribute to your financial wellbeing. “Buy nothing” clubs are gaining popularity in South Florida; participants exchange gently used household items at no charge. With a few friends and enough strategy, you can save a lot of money on groceries if each friend… Read More »
Which Credit Card Debt Solution Works Best for You?
It is not just your imagination that your credit card debt problems, and everyone else’s, seem to be getting worse. Consumers in the United States owe a total of approximately one trillion dollars in credit card debt, and too much of it is yours. Like so many others in your situation, you spent the… Read More »
Bankruptcy Protection for the Bourgeois
The wealthy have many resources, material and otherwise, at their disposal to enable them to lower their tax burden, while the 99 percent must work gigs that issue 1099 forms and then pay back the lion’s share of our earnings to the IRS. It is also ridiculously easy to borrow huge sums of money… Read More »
Denial of Discharge in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Cases
The best-case scenario in a chapter 7 bankruptcy case is that the bankruptcy court discharges all of your eligible debts and does not liquidate any of your assets. When this happens, you get to keep your house and your car, and the court discharges your credit card debts and your old medical bills. Therefore,… Read More »
Debts Related to Fertility Treatments
Even in a place like South Florida, where every commercial break on local radio and TV stations is for a cosmetic surgery clinic, people are still plenty judgmental about patients who spend money on elective medical procedures. If you are struggling with infertility or recurrent pregnancy loss, though, you are probably dealing with criticism… Read More »
How Difficult Is It to Qualify for a Personal Loan?
An unsecured personal loan can be just what you need when you are experiencing a temporary gap in your income. It can also help you recover from a financial setback; if you use a personal loan to pay off medical debts or credit cards, you will pay less interest over time. This is known… Read More »